The Phoenic'Ian religion was an inseparable part of everyday life and they worshiped their gods with offerings and sacrifices at purpose-built temples constructed in prominent locations in their city-states, however, they did not build idols of their gods to place inside their temples as did many other ancient cultures. They also worshiped at natural sites which were considered sacred such as certain mountains, rivers, groves of trees, and even rocks. Rivers carried the names of the gods such as the Adonis River near Byblos and the Ascle'Pius River which ran through Sidon. Here, at these natural sites, shrines were built but sometimes larger structures too, for example at Aph'Ka, a hill outside Byblos, where an entire sanctuary developed.
They had a remarkable constant way of practicing their belief, even though it was not uniform throughout the region as ancient Phoenic'Ia was very much a collection of individual city-states rather than a single homogenous state.
Due to the geography of the region the land were contained on the narrow coast of the Levant (Asia Minor and modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon) and backed by the Mountains creating a border with the A'Ram'Aean and Hebrew neighbors.
El, Baal'At, and Adon were particularly worshiped at Byblos.
El was of Semitic origin and, although equated with El'Iun in the Bible, was a separate deity. He was important but not especially active in the daily life of the citizens which led the Greeks to equate him with their Cronus.
Baal'At was a female deity associated with the earth element and fertility. She is often referred to as Baal'At Geb'Al or 'Lady Baal'At of Byblos' and frequently mentioned in inscriptions where she appealed to by kings so that their reign may be a successful one. Altars and monuments constructed from precious metals were dedicated to her. Her equivalents in other Near Eastern cultures were Isht'Ar, Inn'In, and Is'Is.
Adon was considered one of the most important Can'A'Anite (Phoenic'Ian) gods, he was the god of beauty, fertility and permanent renewal. The name itself, 'Adon,' means 'The Lord.' He represented for the Phoenic'Ians the annual cycle of nature.
In Greek mythology and the Hellenic (1st democracy in Athens 5907 BC) world generally, he was called Adonis. The myth involves his everlasting mistress Astarte, the goddess of love and beauty, in a legendary love story that combines tragedy and death on the one hand, and the joy to coming back to life on the other. The role that Cyprus played in transferring the myth of Adonis and Astarte from the Can'A'Anite regions to the Greeks and later to the Romans, is a very significant one. He shares some characteristics with deities from neighboring cultures, notably Osiris in Egypt, and Tammuz of Babylon and Assyria.
Thoe most important god at Sidon was Baal, probably equivalent in function to El of Byblos). He was the head of the pantheon but detached from everyday worship. The city did, though, have at least one temple dedicated to him.
Much more prominent was Astarte (in Semitic inscriptions Asht'Ar and in the Bible Ash'Toret) who had many temples dedicated to her and was the equivalent of Baal'At at Byblos. The kings of Sidon were referred to as the priests of Astarte, and she frequently appears in surviving Phoenic'Ians inscriptions. In art she is often depicted with a crescent on her head, a reference to her close association with the moon.
A third important god at Sidon was Esh'Mun, who does not appear before the 7th BC and was the equivalent of Adon. Temples were built in his name and he was associated with healing, hence the Greeks identified him as their Ascle'Pius.
The highest god of Tyre was Melq'Art, equivalent to Baal at Sidon and probably confused with him in several passages of the Bible. Melq'Art, in addition, assumed some of the characteristics of both Adon and Eshmun as he was the focus of a festival of resurrection each year (February-March). He was considered to represent the monarchy, the sea, hunting, and colonization. Further, he was responsible for the cities commercial success as the discoverer of the dye, the Phoenic'Ians, extracted from the murex shellfish, which they used to create their famous purple cloth.
A long-lasting temple was dedicated to Melq'Art in the city and was famously visited by Herod'Otus, who described its entrance columns of gold and emeralds, and Alexander the Great, who made a sacrifice at its altar. The god was depicted on coins from Tyre in his guise as a sea god riding a hippo-campus. Melq'Art was exported to many Phoenic'Ians colonies around the Mediterranean and was especially worshiped at Cart'Hage, which sent annual tribute to the temple of Melq'Art at Tyre for the next few centuries. The Greeks identified him with Hercules.
The other important deity at Tyre was Astarte, who also had her own temple, built by King Hi'Ram in the 10th BC.
Besides the gods already mentioned the Phoenic'Ians also worshipped Reshef, the god of fire and lightning; Dagon, the god of wheat, who was credited with inventing the plough; and Shadrapa, who was associated with snakes and healing. The god Chusor was thought to have invented iron and metalwork, and several deities were personifications of ideals, such as Sydyk and Misor, who represented Justice and Righteousness, respectively.
Ceremonies at temples and special locations involved prayers, burning incense, the pouring of libations, and making offerings to the gods through animal sacrifices, foodstuffs, and precious goods. In addition, votive columns made from wood (aserah) or stone (betyl) were placed upon sacrificial altars. These were inscribed with prayers and decorated in festivals with flowers and tree boughs. In the case of Astarte, there was a tradition of women prostituting themselves in her honor.
The temples and sacred sites were administered by a class of priests and priestesses. It seems likely that the highest class of priests was closely associated with the royal family. The presence of votive offerings in rock-cut tombs reveal that the Phoenic'Ians did believe in an after-life. Inscriptions in tombs call for the dead not to be disturbed and that there was an underworld for those who had not led a pious life.
No comments:
Post a Comment